Starving for truth
by kittycat12346
Summary: What if Prim was never reaped? Katniss never would of volunteered, and she never would of fallen in love with Peeta. Would she and Gale have a romantic relashonship, or would she spend her life alone, like she had said to Gale? No flames please!
1. Chapter 1: Reaping day

**Ello readers and thank you for selecting "Starving for truth" as your current story to read. About the title: I might change it later on, because I have no ideas for a title. And the quotations might not to be accurate, but bear with me! Ok, bye-bye!**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I hear a Prim screaming her head off. I see her, on my right, crying and yelling. I can tell she had a nightmare, because today is the reaping day, it is her first year. Even though her name has only been in the bowl once, she is still afraid, with reason of course, but it is such a slim chance that she is chosen though. Though I ignore that last thought. I get up from our bed and I rush to her side of the bed to comfort her.

"It was me Katniss, it was me, they picked me, Katniss, what if…" Prim can't even continue because I am quick to respond ton her.

"Prim, your name's only been in there once. And there are so many names in that bowl, Prim, trust me, nothing will happen. Not as long as I am there." I tell my younger sister. She looks at me with her blue eyes that are on the verge of tears.

"Do you promise?" She asks me.

"Yes." I tell her, reassuringly. Suddenly our mother gets up from her bed to see what is going on.

"What's going on? Prim did you have another bad dream?" My mother asks. Great timing Mom.

"Yes. But everything is fine now. You can go back to bed." I tell her coldly. All she does is nod and head to her bed and Prim follows her, just like every time she has a nightmare. I used to do the same, until my mother stopped living when my dad died. Now when I have nightmares, I just keep to myself and go back to bed. I look at the clock, it is 4:12, and I know I will not fall back asleep, so I decide to head to the woods. I grab some undergarments from my drawer and pick a black long sleeved shirt and some black pants. After I dress I braid my hair, brush my teeth, get my bow and arrow, put my hunting shoes and jacket and head out. No body in the district is awake yet, but some peacekeepers are already on the streets. They must be exhausted.

I have been in the woods for about 5 hours and all I have managed to catch was a few squirrels and one bird. And I admit, it has been a little boring, because with Gale we talk, we laugh and it makes it more interesting. But I wasn't going to wake him up at 4:00 in the morning to go hunting! Suddenly, I hear noises coming from the trees; it seems to be walking slowly. What could it be? Peacekeepers? Doubt it. They are one of our best costumers. The creature reveals a big, male deer. A big smile comes face. Finally a good catch! As I prepare my bow and as I am just going to release my arrow, I hear a male voice say:

"Hey Catnip!" Gale! Damn it! He was going to pay for that one if it's the last thing I do!

"What the hell Gale?!" I say to my best friend, furious. I don't get it, he's smiling when I'm furious at him! Does it entertain him that I'm mad?

"Catnip, what were you going to do with a deer on reaping day?" Gale asks me, still smiling. Is he for real?

"Sell it. What do you think?"

"To who?"

"Peacekeepers." I answer coldly. He starts laughing. What? I really don't see what is so amusing here.

"It's reaping day Catnip, do you think the peacekeepers will take it?" He asks me smiling like a fool.

"Ok fine, maybe peacekeepers won't take it, but Greasy Sae would! Damn it Gale! I'm mad at you! Why are you laughing? It's not funny!" I say, ready to explode like a volcano. He's laughing so hard that I can see bits of what seems to be breakfast comes out his nose. Seeing him laugh like that just makes me so mad that I run up to him and start attacking him. I start hitting him but I fail miserably. Gale is so much taller then I am and looks undefeated. I probably look ridiculous, on Gale, smacking him, punching his arm and yelling.

"You can't fight me, your miniature!" He says, laughing.

"No I'm not! You're the miniature one!"

"What the hell? That's the best you come up with? _I'm _the miniature one?" Gale says looking at me as if it said _**"**__phsyco"_on my forehead. I blush, get off of him and apologize.

"Why don't we head over to our rock, and you can piggy back there, because I'm _so_ miniature!" He grins. I roll my eyes and start to head over.

"We could do it you know." Gale says. What does he mean we could it?

"What?" I ask him.

" Leave the district. Run off. You and I, we could make it."

I don't know what to say.

"Maybe. If we didn't have so many kids." He adds.

"I never want kids." I say.

"I might, if I didn't leave here." He says.

"But you do." I say, a bit irritated.

"Forget it." He snaps and leaves. The conversation feels wrong! How could I leave Prim? Or mother? And how could Gale leave Posy? And Vick? And Rory? And Hazelle? Besides, we wouldn't make it 5 miles. The peacekeepers would find us. We would be killed. And if Gale wants kids, he wouldn't have a hard time finding a wife. Almost every girl wants to be with him. The way they look at him, whisper about him. I sigh and leave. Gale and I will eventually make-up, but I can't help but feel a bit guilty. Oh well.

I open the door to my house to get ready for the reaping day. I find Prim dressed in a brown shirt and a white blouse, my first reaping outfit. It's a little big on her but mother probably secured it with pins, though her shirt always forms a duck tail. She looks beautiful.

"Wow! You look beautiful! Though you have to tuck that little tail little duck." I say.

"Quack." Prim says with a smile.

"Quack yourself!" I say, laughing.

"I laid something for you too, Katniss." Mother says. My smile fades.

"Ok." I say.

I make my way to my room and I find one of mother's old dresses laid on my bed. It's a pale blue dress with matching shoes. I'm surprised she's letting me wear that. Her dresses from the past are very important to her. Maybe she wore it when she met my father? Maybe it was her reaping dress when she was my age? I'll never know, because I dare not to ask her. I rarely talk to her anyway. It's like some sort of punishment I give her, for abandoning us all those years my father died. Though she didn't really abandon us, she was still there physically, but mentally and emotionally, no. I wonder, if we died of starvation, if she would've even noticed? No she would notice, but probably not care. And that thought makes me boil with rage.

I ignore my last thought and head to our bathroom to bath. I never bothered to boil our water to have a warm bath, therefore making the water freezing and it motivates me to finish quickly, because sometimes when the water is warm I tend to take too much time. After I am done I grab a towel and dry myself off. I put on my undergarments and slip on the blue dress. I tie the sash into a bow on the front of me and I put on the matching shoes that came with the dress. Someone knocks on the door.

"Come in." I say.

My mother walks in. She walks over to me with an elastic and a couple of pins.

"Would you like me to do your hair?" She ask me.

"Ok. Thank you." In say. She nods and makes her way over to me and starts to braid my hair, but not in the way I usually do. She's making it into a braided bun. When she finishes I thank and make my way to the kitchen to eat some soup mother prepared.

"Wow Katniss you look beautiful! Gale's one lucky guy!" she says. I roll my eyes with a smile. Prim always teases about Gale being my boyfriend. She knows it's not true, but she likes teasing me. When it's Prim teasing me about "me and Gale, I don't really care. But if it's someone else, then I'm disturbed.

"I wish I was as beautiful as you little duck!" I say. It's true, even though we were both born in the Seam, Prim looks like a merchant kid, while I look like a seam kid. She and mother are like a pop of color when they are walking in the seam. But on reaping day, Effie Trinket is the pop of color with her odd Capitol fashion in the square.

"Come on, we should get to the reaping." I say to Prim. She looks down.

"What if I'm picked Katniss?" She asks me.

"Your not." I answer.

"It only takes on slip Katniss…" She says. Prim does have a point. It really does take one slip to be picked, but the odds are very slim.

"Prim, I promise you won't get picked. It's not going to be you. Ok? Just relax. I know it's your first reaping, but you need get that thought out of your head, because all it's going to do is stress you out. Just tell yourself that you have only one slip in that bowl, and that the odds are in your favour, ok?" I tell her.

"Ok." We make our way to the door to get to the square. Once we reach it, Prim is on the verge of tears.

"Prim, Prim, it's ok, everything will be ok! Your just going to go with the twelve year olds to check in ok, there going to prick your finger and then you go in the square. Ok?" I tell my sister.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not really. It's no different then a splinter, expect it doesn't stay. After the reaping meet me right here, ok?" Prim nods and makes her way to the twelve year olds section. I get in line with the sixteen-year olds and wait in line. When it is my turn, a lady takes my finger, pricks it then tells me leave. I'm one of the last to get in my section, due to my interaction with Prim. Oh well. As more people come it gets more claustrophobic. The square is quite large but on reaping day it seems like the smallest place in District 12. When everyone is done, Effie Trinket comes on the stage with her freaky coated white make-up. She tries to lighten the crowd, with no luck. Then mayor Undersee reads the list of past victors of District 12. In 74 years of Hunger, we have had two victors. One of them is still alive, and that's Haymitch Abernathy. I see him sometimes in the hob buying liquor. The fact that we only have 2 victors makes us the laughingstock of Panem. Other districts at least have 10 or 13. Unlike career districts, who have won, so far, 5 years in a row. The anthem plays and we are forced to watch a video about the history of the games. Basically, the hunger games are a punishment for a rebellion that happened 74 years ago, and apparently the Capitol "loved and cherished the 13 districts". Well, is there's any district they love and cherish, that's district 1 and 2. They are like the Capitol lap dogs. The Capitol doesn't really pay attention to the other ones. After the video, Effie Trinket precedes to pick the tributes.

"As usual, ladies first!" She says. She walks to the reaping ball, which one of them says Primrose Everdeen.

_Please don't let it be me, or Prim, but if I have to choose one, let it be me then, but please make it not be me or Prim, or even Madge! _

Effie has a slip of paper. She reads it. My heart stops beating.

"Prim-"

What! No it cannot be Prim!

Effie continues. "Primma Raven!"

I sigh in relief. It wasn't Primrose Everdeen. Thank god.

A short, blonde haired blue-eyes girl maker her way to the stage. I recognize her from my math class. She's a merchant girl. Her parents own a sweet shop. She looks shocked. Maybe she doesn't take Tesserae. There's a cry from where the parents are. I see Mrs. Raven crying and yelling her name. Mr. Raven is trying to comfort her, but it doesn't seem to work. Primma is crying. Mayor Undersee seems stressed about all of this. We have Mrs. Raven bawling her eyes out, Primma crying, parents yelling at peacekeepers, and little kids yelling. Right now, once again we are the laughingstock of Panem. Great. Effie is trying to get everything under control. Eventually, the racket dies out and Effie picks our boy tribute.

"Hansen Harleigh!" Effie says with a big smile. An under-fed twelve-year old walks. He has the seam look. Suddenly, an older, boy makes his way to the stage. Peacekeepers block him. He's screaming the boys name and finally says:

"I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" He says. The boy cries for him not to but the older one tells him to go back. He makes his way to the stage.

"Oh how exiting! District twelve's first ever volunteer! What is your name?" Effie asks.

"Tommy Harleigh." He says coldly.

"I bet my hat that was your brother! Don't want him to steal all the glory huh?" Tommy doesn't answer. Effie continues.

"Give a round of applause for district twelve tributes, Primma Raven and Tommy Harleigh!" But no one applauds. Instead, we put three fingers, kiss them and put them up. It's our respect sign. Effie guides them to the justice building. The reaping is over. We all make our way out of the square. I find Prim at the spot I told her to meet me.

"See Prim, it wasn't you!" I tell her.

"Yeah, but, I feel really bad." She responds.

"It's not your fault, Prim. It's just the Capitol. Come on we better get going." Prim nods and walk to our house. On our way there I meet Gale.

"Hey catnip!" He says.

"Oh, hi Gale. Do you, um, want to go in the woods?" I ask him.

"Sure, say in 10 minutes? Got to get all this fancy clothes off." Gale says to me. I nod, and we make our way to our houses to get ready.

"There despicable. Just despicable. Gale says. He's ranting about how bad the Capitol is. Were in the woods, the only place we are free. But we could be shot for hunting.

"I know Gale, I know…"


	2. Chapter 2: I love him, I love him not

**Here is another update for you my dearies! Hey! I should call my reviewers and followers that! Oh, and favourites too! Ok dearies, chapter 2 shall commence!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the hunger games trilogy. If I did, *SPOLIER ALERT FOR MOCKINJAY* Prim would live, Catnip would choose Gale, and Peeta will be for ever alone and SUFFER :D :D :D! Sorry, I may not seem mentally stable there… But don't worry… I (barely) past my sanity test! **

"There wrong. God, why does the Capitol have to do this to us? To go off, killing innocent children… It's despicable. And how do they find entertainment from, murder? The blood of innocent children… It satisfies them! How can that be? And they think there superior from us! It's ridiculous! There are nothing but" I don't know what overcame me, but I kissed Gale. Yes, I kissed him. I have no idea why I did it; maybe it was to make him shut-up? Or because his lips looked so soft? I will never know. But I do know, that I seem to enjoy it. It's sort of weird saying that… But it's the truth. My lungs are burning for air, but I don't want to break off the kiss. I wonder if Gale is enjoying this too. He gets into a different position, putting his hands on my face and my hands go through his hair. He breaks off the kiss, and I have the feeling he will go away, but he doesn't. Instead, he starts kissing my neck. As he kisses my neck, I realize that I just had my first kiss! I don't know what to think, since I said I was never going to marry, have kids, I may as well never be kissed. But I was wrong. Terribly wrong. I didn't just have one kiss, but probably like ten. I feel some pain in my neck, like if a bunch were sucking on my flesh. It doesn't feel too good. "Ow." I let out. Gale stops kissing my neck, and we get back to just kissing. We lay down, and resume that, Suddenly, I feel my shirt being pulled. I panic. I get up and start running. I don't even bother to get my bow, which is fine by me. It's probably safer in the woods anyway. I'm so mad at myself! Why did In kiss Gale?! That was so stupid of me! And my family is coming over to there house for a celebratory dinner! Wow, I really did not think this through! Because of my stupid mistake, my friendship with Gale is probably ruined! Damn, why are these woods so big!? I could really use some water right now… I'll get some when I get home. Right now, I need to get out of these woods, get home, and deal with the whole situation! Maybe I should take a break… No! What if Gale catches up to me! I don't even know if he is running after me… Still, I must not stop!

**Gale's POV**

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! I am so stupid! Why did I do that? Everything was going just fine until I just HAD to try to pull Katniss's shirt! Why am I so stupid! And now she's coming over for dinner, which is going to be pretty awkward. I'm not even going to bother running after her. Man, I messes up badly. Why did I even try to pull her shirt? That's was so stupid of me. Well, I probably messed up my chances with her now. Chances are, she will end up with that Mellark boy. What's his name? Peter? Peeta? Ah yes Peeta. Well, maybe not. I don't think Katniss will go marry some bread boy anyway. And she never really liked him either, I don't think. She would have told me. We tell each other all our secrets. Well almost, I never told her I loved her. But I should. I should of told her when she was here, but no. I touch my lips, were Catnip kissed me. I guess I Should have been more a man and kissed her myself, but I guess fate decided to do this otherwise.

**At the Hawthorne household. Katniss's POV**

Prim knocks on the Hawthorne's old wooden door. Usually I like going to Gale's for dinner, but today, I'm dreading it.

"What's wrong Katniss? Usually you're so exited to go to Gale's! What's with the sad face?" Prim asks me.

"I was just thinking about… How scared I was for you at the reaping! You name and Primma's are almost identical!" I tell her. For once, I'm glad for the reaping. I would never hear the end of it if I told Prim about earlier today. Someone answers the door, and it's Gale.

Really? It just had to be Gale? Gale needed to answer the door? Rory couldn't of? Maybe Hazelle? No? Not Vick? It couldn't have been Vick? Or Posy?

"Hi guys! Mom! The Everdeen's are here!" Gale says. Hazelle comes in a long grey dress. She looks lovely.

"Hello, hello! You guys are in for a treat tonight! We are having squirrel stew!" She says enthousiatly. Just thinking about it, my mouth is watering! I love squirrel stew.

We make our way in the house. I try not to look in Gale's eyes. I feel so dumb, after what happened today. Maybe I should talk to him? Tell him that what happened was nothing, and act as if it never happened? Yeah right. And I'm going to have to hang around him, because if I don't, everyone is going to think something is fishy, them BAM! The secret will come out. What ever. I just need to act like my normal self. Immediately after we get in, Prim is already out with Rory, Vick and Posy. For a second, I think of joining them, but I retain myself. I've seen them play before, and I do not feel like being some wizard from this book called "Harry Potter". And I can't really be with mother and Hazelle, because all they do is chatter about stuff I'm not into. I guess I'm stuck with Gale!

"Hey Catnip." He says to me. I'm surprised of how calm he is acting with me. He must of felt confused and hurt about the kiss. Ah the kiss! I've got to stop thinking about it! God!

"Hey Gale, can I talk to you… In private?" Nooooo! What did I just do! Gah! Why can't I just listen to myself! Damn it! Whatever. Gale nods and leads me to his room. Well, it's not exactly his room; it's also Vick's and Rory's. Posy sleeps with Hazelle.

"What's up?" He asks me. I can feel my legs trembling as he talks. I honestly do not know what came over me, but, I tilt my chin up to Gale's, and I kiss him. I do not know what I was thinking! I feel myself being pushed into the wall.

**Gale's POV**

Yes! Yes! I've redeemed myself! Ok, Gale, no pressure, no pressure, but DON'T SCREW THIS UP LIKE LAST TIME! I hope I didn't screw up by pushing Catnip in the wall? Well, she hasn't ran off, like last time, so I guess I'm doing a decent job.

**Katniss's POV**

I pull away from Gale's kiss. He seems confused.

"What's wrong? Did I, did I do something wrong?" Gale says.

"Nothing it's just, look, were supposed to be best friends…. Best friends don't go kissing each other!" I tell Gale. It feels good to have this off my chest.

"We don't have to be best friends…" He says. What does he mean?

"What are you saying?"

"We could be together."

…

?

….

…

!

?

!

I am literally in shock. Does Gale… like me? In a… Romantic sort of way? No, it can't be! There are far more attractive girls at school then me! I'm plain! Even though our school dress code is plain, the other girls seem to make it more colourful. Not me. I'm not like the merchant girls, with a colored ribbon in my hair, making our school's mandatory grey dresses with more life. I just stick my hair in a braid.

Suddenly, he kisses me. I kiss him back. I don't know why I am. I don't love Gale. I don't love anybody, except for Prim and my father. And I suppose I love my mother. I mean, of course I love her, but I am still furious about her and her depression. But that's family love. And what Gale is suggesting is boyfriend, girlfriend love. And I don't want that. I told him that yesterday! But I seem so attracted to him… No! No! NO! I am NOT attracted to Gale, I am NOT going to be with him and we will never, ever be lovers! Now, I just need to get those thoughts to come out of my mouth. I really should stop kissing him now, and tell him that…. Mmm… Gale smells good. Like alders smoke and oranges… I do like oranges… And I seem to be enjoying this, which is NOT what should be happening. Is this even something best friends should be doing? No, they don't. But lovers do, so are we lovers now? God! Why does our relationship have to be so hard?

"Dinner is ready! Come get it while it's hot!" Hazelle says. Thank you Hazelle!

"We better go, wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to have a meal." I say, awkwardly. Gale just nods. We both walk to the dinner table silently. We both take a little bit of the stew and sit on the table. We start with a little prayer. It's nothing much, just thanking God for the food, and to protect the tributes in the hunger games. My family, were not really religious, but the Hawthorne's are. In fact, I'm pretty sure there the most religious people in District 12! I never really believed that much in religion. When my father died, I was told that if you had enough faith in god, that whatever you request from him will happen. I guess I didn't have enough faith, because if I did, the Capitol would have been overthrown a very long time ago. **(AN: Please, don't leave any death threats for about Katniss being a bit of an atheist. Thanks!)**

"Hazelle, this stew is delicious! Probably the best stew I have ever had!" My mother says. She's right; it's really good. Too bad we don't that much, well, the older people have less. In the Hawthorne's household, the younger you are, the more you get. It's not really a rule, but the kids get more food compared to Gale and Hazelle. It's the same with Prim. If there is only enough for two, I'll sacrifice my share.

"Oh, well thank you Jewels!" Hazelle says to mother.

"Yes, mommy, it's very yummy!" Posy says with a big smile. I can't help but smile, Posy is such a cutie.

"Well I'm glad you liked it!" Hazelle says to Posy with a huge grin. Rory excuses himself, followed by Prim, Vick and then Posy. There off to playing whatever game they have played before. The only people left at the table are Hazelle, Mother, Gale and me. Hazelle and mother a quickly start talking about 'lady stuff'. Gale and I sit awkwardly beside each other, not saying a word. Were not even looking at each other; I think Gale also regrets about our little, session. At least I hope he does, it would be too much for him too love me, knowing I love nobody expect for Prim. And if anybody knew, the other girls would kill me, for having gorgeous Gale Hawthorne, fall for plain Katniss, not that they would do much damage to me. I'm one of the fastest runners in my school, and I could easily outrun them, and they wouldn't want there precious make-up to get ruined! Unless Marjorie Nestar is running after me, then I will be for sure dead. Marjorie was Gale's first girlfriend, they dated for about a year, and I heard one of Gale's friends as him he had "banged" her, and he replied that he did. I'm not too sure want that means, but I dare not to ask Gale, he would laugh at me and call me innocent, and I am NOT innocent. But back to Marjorie. When Gale broke-up with her, he told her he loved someone else, and she got mad. I don't k now that it is, but every time I see Marjorie, she glares at me all evil-like. Once, I heard her talk to Joan Derps, her best friend about me, and I still remember the whole conversation. I was thirteen years old, walking too my next class, then I saw Marjorie talking to Joan. Then, she said words that will haunt me forever…

"You know that Katniss Everdeen girl?" Marjorie said. Joan nodded. I went and hid behind some garbage can to hear, my heart was beating like mad.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think she's a little slut."

"What?" Joan said, confused.

"She's a little slut. She tried to steal Gale away from me, with her illegal activities. And it worked. She stole my man!" Marjorie said.

"Really? Well, you what I think of her? I think she is so stupid. My brother is in her math class, and apparently, she got zero on her quiz. Nobody really likes her, he said. Only the mayor's daughter and Gale. She seems annoying too." Joan said.

"And she's so flat! Goodness, she's probably the only thirteen year old I know who doesn't even have at least an A-cup!" Marjorie replied.

"Her name should be Flatniss!" Joan said.

"Oh my god yes! She deserves it! And oh my god, I hope she is forever alone. Nobody will ever love her. Never. I hope her name is picked for the hunger games, and that he gets a slow, and painful death by some career. I hate Flatniss." Marjorie said. She and Joan exchanged laughs. I was thinking about running away crying, but I was not. I was not going to give them the satisfaction. I decided to walk by them, as if I never heard them talk behind my back, as if I never knew them. My plan kind of backfired though, because Marjorie saw me, and an evil grin drew on her lips.

"Hey Everdeen, come here, I have something to tell you." She said. I walked over to her, my heart beating so hard, it felt as if it was going to jump out of my body.

"Y-yes?" I said in a shaky voice. Joan rolled her eyes, followed by Marjorie.

"I have a little gift for you, Flatniss!" And out of nowhere, she slapped me right across my face. If held my abused cheek, looked at her, on the verge of tears, and she and Joan laughed.

"Now, scram Flatniss! Go fail your math test and cry to your daddy about how much your life sucks!" Marjorie told me, with a smile.

"Yes! And on your way, tell yourself this; you are a worthless human being, and that you deserve Gale. Ok Flatniss?" She told me, followed by a laugh with Marjorie and a push. I wanted to tell her, that my father died in the mines, and that Gale broke-up with Marjorie because she was a heartless bully. But I couldn't. They had already hurt me so much, their words hurt more then the slap. I came in late to my math class, and I failed my math test. When we had to tell our scores to Ms. Lopez, everyone laughed at my miserable 2 out 57. I even heard Joan's brother, Unitard, tell Peeta Mellark, that all seam kids were stupid, and that I was a fine example. My eyes met his for a split second, before I turned away to look down. That's all I remember. I don't know if he laughed, or disagreed with him.

I can feel that my eyes about to cry, so I excuse myself from the table. I run to Gale's room and cry on his bed.

"It's ok Catnip, it's ok…" He walks over to his bed and sits next to me. I sink my face into his shirt and I cry my eyes out, which is something I haven't done in a very long time. Gale wraps his arms around me, and gently strokes my hair. I'm happy that he is not asking me why I am crying. I never told him about the incident with Marjorie and Joan. When he asked why I had a hand mark on my face, I told him that someone accidently hit me in gym class. He seemed satisfied with that answer. If I told Gale that Marjorie slapped me, he would of slapped her himself. And then Marjorie would call me a tattle tail. At least Marjorie will be will out of school this year, and I will be free. And Unitard doesn't talk behind my back anymore, but he says it too my face. For some odd reason, this is making me cry more. Damn it! Why am so sensitive today? Gale must think I am being such a baby. Even Posy doesn't cry that much! She's five and I am sixteen! I get my face off of Gale's shirt and I wipe my tears.

"What was that all about, Catnip? You didn't like the stew?" He says playfully. We both laugh.

"No, I loved the stew. I was just thinking about something really depressing, about the past." I say.

"What is it?" He asks me.

"It's nothing." I respond quickly.

"Come on Catnip, you can tell me anything! I won't judge you, you know that!"

"Marjorie." I tell him quickly. I look away, because I'm on the verge of tears.

"Katniss… Marjorie is a cold-hearted bully. I don't know what she said, but I'll talk to her if you want, tell her to stop being such a-"

"No, no, no! Gale I am begging you, please don't do that! Things will get worse! And besides, I was thirteen when it all happened. Now she just glares at me like some villain. It's fine, really Gale. Stop worrying about me." I tell him. I lean over him to kiss him. Our kisses get deeper, and our bodies are on top of each other.

Next thing I know, I am sleeping with Gale Hawthorn, with our mother in the other room, and our younger siblings outside.


	3. Chapter 3: It's out

**I decided to update again, because I'm just nice like that! Well enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to leave a review! **

"We should probably get dressed, mother and Hazelle might get suspicious." I tell Gale, my best friend-possible-lover-but-not-really-lover-because-I-don't-love-him-but-I-slept-with-him. I feel so sick about what happened, but my body disagrees with me. I had to burry face into Gale's pillow so I didn't have to moan out loud.

I get up from Gale's rather small bed and I wrap myself into some blankets I found beside Gale's bed. I try to find my undergarments, without luck. I've managed to find is a book by some Shakespeare person, Gale's history textbook, Vick's pet rock Rocky and a bunch of socks. Why can't I find my undergarments?!

"Nice underwear, Catnip." I whip my head to Gale's direction, and to my horror, I see Gale with my white undergarments! My cheeks turn red as a tomato as I snatch my underwear from Gale, who starts laughing his head off. I really feel like snapping his neck right now, but I don't, for obvious reasons.

"How long did you have my, undergarments for?" I ask him.

"I found them while you were looking under the bed; I found these under my covers. And must I say, they are quite… _sexy._" Gale says. My cheeks get even redder then they were before. I snatch my underwear from Gale, and I walk away from him to change. What an embarrassment! Imagine if Hazelle would have walked in when Gale had my underwear in his hand! I would probably not be invited back into Gale's home. I shake my head and I put my undergarments on, though I always have a hard time with knotting it. In district twelve, they don't make very nice bras, and they make it so you have to knot it so it doesn't fall off. Problem is, I'm really bad at tying knots. No matter how much my father taught me, I just can't tie them! Usually Prim just knots them for me sometimes, as she is the complete opposite of me, and because she makes a lot of bracelets with knots and sells them sometimes. But I kind of gave up on those types of bras and I opted for sports bras, but sadly they flatten my chest, which targets abuse from Marjorie. Actually, I really wonder why I even opted for a cup bra today. Oh well. Holy crap, the person who decided to make bras like this can get an arrow to the neck!

"Catnip, do you need help?" Gale asks me. He is already dressed, while I am not even close. Even Gale's bed is made! Wow, I am slower then a slug today

"Um, sure, are you good with knots?" I ask him. I feel a bit dumb for adding that last part. Of course he is good with knots! He makes snares. Mental face palm!

"I'll try Catnip." He says with a smirk. We both laugh and Gale starts knotting. I'm surprised on how Gale does this so easily. It's probably from years of working with snares, but I'm not entirely convinced; I've heard rumours of Gale sleeping with lots of girls from our school, particularly merchant girls…

"All done Catnip." Gale says. I rise on to my tiptoes to kiss him. We both smile and I turn away to put on my panties and my dress on. I realize there's another problem; my mother put my hair in a braided bun, and I can't do that. Well, I sort of can, but It looks all crooked and odd. I'm starting to freak out, because if my mother finds out, I will be dead meat for sure! And what if I become pregnant!? I probably already am!

I hear a knock on the door. Gale and I whip our heads to the exit. We look to see if anything looks suspicious. Nothing. It's safe to open the door. Gale goes to open it.

"Katniss, come on we have to leave." My mother says. I nod and I make my way past her.

"Good-bye! Thank you for supper!" Prim says. "We have to continue that game tomorrow at school!"

"Yes! That was so much fun!" Rory adds.

"Mommy, when can we have this night again? It was fun!" Posy says. Hazelle's face drops from her smile. Posy is clearly too young too understand that the point of this night was to celebrate the fact that Rory, Gale, Prim and I weren't chosen to go off and die. But she's too young to understand…

**At school, the next day…**

Prim and I walk, holding our lunchboxes, our homework and our hands. Were on our way to school. It's a long walk, from the seam to our school, as it is located closer to the merchant area. It's kind of a bummer that we only have two schools in our district. We have one for the 'special' kids, and ours, for the normal ones.

"What's your first class, Katniss?" Prim asks me.

"Math," I say a bit sad. I'm really not a big fan of the subject, sadly.

"I have English, with Ms. Hofstadter, my favourite teacher. Did you have her?"

"Yes, I did, actually! She was my English teacher too!" I say with a smile.

"Cool. I think I'd like to be teacher, or a healer, like mother. What do you think I could be?" I smile. Prim is such an intelligent girl; she could be anything she would like to be.

"Well, you sure are one heck of a healer, and I've seen you tutor Vick's science, so I guess I can't really say, you could be both!" We both smile.

We finally reach our school. We walk into the school, were the halls are crawling with kids.

"Well, we better get to our classes. I'll see you after school, ok?" I tell Prim, who nods. We embrace, before parting ways.

As I make my way to my locker, I see a lot of girls giving me dirty looks, which I am a little bit confused. I realize that they are only merchant girls, not seam girls, which I find is odd. Some boys, again merchants, high five me, and congratulated me. Congratulate me for what? For not being picked for the Games? I am really confused. I reach my locker, and this time, I see girls whispering about something, and they're giving me dirty looks. Maybe they're mad about something I said yesterday or something? Actually, scratch that, I never say anything. Maybe Madge knows? I'll ask her after I go the bathroom.

I walk up into the first stall, when suddenly, I hear people coming in. I lock my stall and I put my feet up on the toilet, so they don't see me. I'm not comfortable going to the bathroom with people outside.

"Did you hear?" A girl says. I peek through the crack; it's a merchant girl, Beatrix, Primma's step-sister.

"Hear what?" Another girl asks.

"About Gale Hawthorne newest girl." Beatrix says.

"Oh, no I haven't, so, who is it now?" The girl asks while applying some make-up.

"Katniss Everdeen." Beatrix responds, rolling her eyes. I feel my heart break. How could Gale of let this out so quickly? It's only been a day!

"What!? Isn't she that girl from the seam with that pathetic little Primrose girl?" I feel anger boil up inside me. I don't care what people say about me, but when they mess with prim, and then I get very angry.

"Afraid so. God, I'm so mad! Here I am, trying desperately to get his attention, and then that Everdeen does it effortlessly! Gah I'm so mad!"

"And rumour has it, while the kids were playing, the moms were chatting, Gale and Katniss were doing the nasty." Beatrix adds.

"How did they not hear!? When I was fifteen, I lost my virginity to him, behind the baker's shop, and we were noisy!" The friend adds.

"Noelle! Oh my god! Lucky! Was it good?" She adds. I'm literally about to vomit. I really wish they would get out so I can pee!

"Oh, Bea, it was the best. He's got awesome technique. And all I had to do was play an hour in heaven!" Noelle adds.

"Lucky! We'll, I really should get going, I don't want to be late for Mr. Jasper's math class; He is one sexy teacher!" she says.

"Ok, let's go." She says before exiting. I sigh in relief. I'm hurt, though; That Gale told everyone about yesterday, and that he slept with so many girls. It makes me sick to my stomach that when were in that moment together, he did it so many other girls.

"Madge, do you hate me too?" I ask Madge, how may be one of the only people who do not hate today.

"Of course not, why would I hate you? You did nothing wrong. It's just human nature, Katniss. It's just those girls who are jealous." Madge says. I admit I feel a bit relived. Madge and I aren't 'BFF'S', but she's also my only good friend.

"Ok, thanks Madge." I tell her. Madge smiles.

I see Marjorie Nestar coming my direction. I immediately freeze up. She has an evil look on her.

"Just don't look at her, Katniss, don't look at her, pretend she's not there." Madge tells me, I do what she says, but It fails.

"Oh, hi they're Seam whore! How are you doing? I hear you just banged Mr. Hawthorne, how do you feel?" Marjorie asks me. I do not answer. I keep eating my apple, ignoring her.

"I know you can hear me. Seam whore."

"Shut-up Marjorie." Madge says.

"Shut-up, Madge. I'm talking to Seam whore here!"

"She's not a whore, you idiot." Madge responds.

"Oh my god, shut-up! Nobody likes you. Go away." Marjorie pushes away Madge and goes into my direction. I gulp.

"Katniss, Katniss, she is a whore, a whore, a whore, a freaking whore! She is a stupid seam whore! Let's sing this song for her to hear!" Marjorie sings. Suddenly, the whole cafeteria is filled with people singing that song. Tears start falling from my eyes. I wish In could run away, but I am required ton stay until the bell rings. I see Madge trying to tell everyone to stop, but it fails. I see only a couple of people not singing, and that is Delly Cartwright, and, surprisingly, Peeta Mellark.

I can't help it. I bust out sobbing. Madge tries to comfort me, without luck. There seems to be more noise, and the eighteen year olds are done class. Were so loud in our cafeteria that, they can probably hear from the halls. I look at the window for a second, and I see Gale, with his books in his hand. He drops them and makes his way to the door to the cafeteria. He enters the room, and takes me into his arms.

We go into the bathroom. He puts his hand down, and I slap him.

"WHAT THE HELL GALE!" I yell at him.

"Ow! And you're welcome, by the way!"

"Gale, why would I thank you?! You told everyone about last night! It's only been a day!"

"I just let it slip to Thom, I swear, I never wanted to let it get so out of hand! I swear Catnip!"

"Last night was such a mistake," I say.

"No."

"What?"

"I don't regret last night, Catnip."

"That's because you do that all the time."

"That's not fair Catnip."

"Don't call me that, Gale."

**Ok, really short, I know. I'm sorry! **


	4. Chapter 4: Oops, I did it again

**Yay! Another update! Now, please, please, please review! If I get 15 reviews, I will make some more Galeniss moments. Or else, she ends up with Peeta. Naaah, I hate Peeta, and this is a Galeniss fanfiction. But if that's what it takes…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. But I do own all three books, the movie and a mockinjay necklace, the rights of the Hunger Games belong to Suzanne Collins, not me. I'm just a fanfiction writer, who does this to entertain her. It's better then watching videos of a cat ringing a door bell. Suzanne, please don't sue me! **

"That's not fair, Katniss, I never meant this to get out of hand." Gale says. He's right, it isn't, and I'm being unfair. I guess I was still sad about my song.

"Your right, I'm sorry Gale," I tell him. Suddenly, he kisses me. This is unexpected, and I kiss him sloppily.

"Can I still call you Catnip, Catnip?" Gale asks me with a smirk.

"Does this answer your question?" I answer. I wrap my legs around his waits and I kiss him passionately. We keep kissing until our faces turn purple. We both smile at each other before returning to our kisses. I can hear the people my age coming out.

"Maybe we should get into a stall, just in case someone comes in…" I tell Gale, who nods. We get into the furthest stall, and I lock the door, and I put my legs over Gale's hips again, who kisses my neck hungrily. I can feel the sash of my grey dress getting undone, and this time, I don't even care, that there are about five hundred merchant girls who hate me so much, who wish they could have Gale Hawthorne.

Once again, I make love to Gale, with the whole school, just outside of us. There's actually someone going to the bathroom right beside us. I really wonder how they haven't just started to notice; I have let out two moans and said my name twice. I really wonder why we always make love when other people are around. Oh well.

**Really short chapter! Sorry! Anyway, please check out my story on FictionPress; The Queen. Thanks for the support, guys! **


	5. Chapter 5: Bookshelves and kisses

**Hello, I know have been horrible at updating, but I'm here to change that! I'll try and make this a nice, long chapter, with a lot of Galeniss ;)**

**Please, check out my story on fictionpress, "The Queen". Review too please! **

**More info on my profile! Really quick question, do you hate me? I think you guys do.. :3 LOLZ! I never got that, does the Z mean? Laughing out Loud, Zebras? Whenever I say that I feel like one of those girls who wear too much make-up, own iPhones (even though I do to..) , wear slutty dresses and are addicted to texting. LOLZ! Liek u shuld tots review! LOLZ selfie time! **

"Uh, well, we better go, you know, since the bell rang.." I say awkwardly. Gale nods his head and puts his clothes back on. I imitate him, but I dress faster.

There is nothing but dead silence in the bathroom, and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say to make it less awkward between Gale and I.

"What, what do you have next like, as a course?" I baffle. I mentally face palm myself. I couldn't have said something a little more intelligent? The worse is that I'm never like this around Gale! Why did that have to change? Sometimes I wish I could just live under a rock.

"Capitol rocks with Mrs. Crumplebottom. (**HA HA! I'm addicted to sims...) **What about you?"

Capitol rocks isn't exactly a course, or at least that's not what it called. It's actually "Conduct and worship, a mandatory course to take once your in Level 18 (Gale's current level in school). It's basically about how much we owe the Capitol for loving and supporting us. Ha! Like they even care about the outlying districts! The idiots force kids to fight to the death and neglect us, and were expected to 'love' them? Yeah right. And for the course name, it's just a little joke between us.

"I've got math, again, with Mrs. Allerdyce-Juleny."

"Cool. We better go, since were late.." Gale tells me. I nod and give him a hug. Not a friendly hug, but a long, 17 second hug.

**Math. **

Of course, I had to be late for math, where none of my classmates enjoy my company. I'm the only seam girl in that class, so I don't really have someone else to talk to. Madge has Mr. Oilp, the best math teacher, or so I've heard.

As I try and enter the classroom as quietly as possible, Mrs. Allerdyce-Juleny sees me, and frowns.

"Oh, how lovely of you to join us, Katniss! You decided at the last minute to come to class? In that case why don't you come on in and show us how do this algebra question?" My heart sinks after she adds that last part of her sentence; I am horrible at algebra and she knows it too well. Everyone knows I'm the worst at in the class, possibly even the whole district! I slowly walk by the chalk board, pick up a small piece of chalk and I try my best to solve the question. Problem is, Mrs. Allerdyce-Juleny keeps getting frustrated and erases my progress and makes me redo it. My cheeks are as red as a tomato and my body goes stiff. I can hear a couple of my supportive classmates laughing.

"Ok, let's get over this again, if x=129, what would d be?" My teacher asks me.

"200?" I ask her.

"Katniss Everdeen! What is wrong with you?! Is it not clear that when a letter like x divided by 456 would obviously mean that the last letter would be 89?" She asks me.

"With all due respect Mrs. Allerdyce-Juleny, I don't see how this will help me later on in my life.."

"It will help not be a moron! But your right, you already are one, so I don't see how it can help you anymore."

Rage boils inside of me. I am so mad at my teacher. Our little scene must be very entertaining to the rest of the class though, because I can see a couple of people watching us like we were in some movie.

"I am not a moron! If I was, wouldn't I be dead by now?"

"Not a moron? Ha! Katniss, getting 16 out 109 questions is far from genius, dear. As far as I know, you have never proven to me that you were a smart person. And to be honest, your worthless." I don't think I've ever felt like this before, I literally want to break the window and murder my teacher right now.

"You bitch." My teacher gets mad, like REALLY mad, her face is getting red, and she slaps me, multiple time.

"You little idiot! *slap* You worthless *slap* seam *slap* *slap*! *slap*!"y cheek is now bright red and bleeding. I look at her, and before I can react, she pushes me to the ground! I fall hard on the ground with my teacher over top of me. She starts kicking me so hard I can barely breath.

"ARE YOU SORRY? ARE YOU SORRY YOU LITTLE IDIOT! HUH?" I don't answer. I can't say anything, I feel nothing but pain.

I see my teacher grab shake the bookshelf that in front of us, my eyes widen in fear, and I realize that right now I could die.

BAM! The books, and the bookshelf fall on top of me. I hear my teacher laughing, and I start crying. Bawling even.

The door opens, and I see none other then Peeta Mellark.

"What the heck just happened?" He asks, and he bends over to get the books out of my way.

Mrs. Allerdyce-Juleny smiles and goes back to her desk.

"Don't mess with me. That's all I have to say." Peeta looks at her, confused, then helps me get up. I realize that I'm still crying, so keep some dignity, I wipe my tears away, and I try to look like as if I wasn't a victim of verbal and physical abuse. My body is aching so much, and my grey dress is stained with my blood. Perfect. What else am I supposed to wear to school now? And to the reapings? Hum, well I still could wear mother's dress for the reaping, but what about school? This is my only grey dress! I'm supposed to wear five days a week, to be careful not to stain it, and then wash it on Saturdays! I really hope Mrs. Allerdyce-Juleny gets fired, even though she can't. There is no law that says that a teacher can't fired for abusing a student. Stupidest law ever! I can die if I go hunting, but my teacher can still keep her job is she's harming a student? That doesn't seem right. Not right one bit.

DRING! The bell rings to announce the end of the school day. Peeta puts his hand out to help me up, but I refuse to. He helped me once, but once is enough. I'm not dying of starvation right now, I just got a bookshelf fall on top of me. Hum... That doesn't sound really normal, now that I said it. I get up on my own.

"Are you sure your ok? Do you want me to get the nurse?" Peeta asks me.

"No, I'm good. If Gale asks, juts say that I fell."

"Why would I tell him?" The baker asks, confused.

"Because when I tell him, he won't believe me. And if I tell him the truth, he'll drop a book case on her himself." I answer.

"Are you guys dating? I heard the rumour, and I'm not surprised." He looks down sadly.

"What?" I ask the baker, confused.

"If I was him, I would have told all of Panem."

Before I can answer, he kisses me. But this is not the kind of kiss I'm used to. This kiss doesn't make me want another. No, instead I imitate my teacher.

"How dare you!" I yell at him before slapping him across his left cheek.

"Hey! What was that for?" Peeta asks me as he cradles his now crimson cheek. I may have slapped him too hard...

"You had no right to do that." I tell him as I walk away.

How dare he! How could he just do that? We have never spoken until now! I hope Gale doesn't find out...

As I'm walking around the school, trying to get to gym class, but I accidentally bump into someone.

"Ouch! Sorry." I tell them. I look up, and I see no other then Marjorie Nestar.

"Hi Flatniss, or should I say seam whore?" Gale's ex tells me. She is incredibly beautiful, with long merchant hair, sea colored eyes, a thin body, and pretty features. Her father is the one who is in charge of the miners. If the job isn't done correctly, he gets fired. Because of that job, the Nestars are the second richest family in district twelve. The first are the Undersee's.

"I saw what you did. And I'm telling Gale." She threatens me.

"What are you talking about?"

"Do I look like an idiot to you?!" She asks me.

"Well, now that you ask me, yeah you do. It doesn't help that your a bully!"

Oops, that may not have been the smartest thing to say. Marjorie looks at me with furry in her eyes and punches me. Ok, I may have deserved that, I did basically call her an idiot. This is not my best day, I was humiliated at lunch, got a bookshelf thrown at me (and my body still aches by the way), Peeta kissed me out of the blue and Marjorie punched me. What could go worse?

"Hey! What the hell do you think are you doing?" Marjorie and I look back and to my horror, I see Gale, with his 'Capitol rocks' textbook in his right hand. I slowly walk away, but Marjorie pushes me back.

"Guess what Gale? I found little miss seam whore locking lips with Peeta Mellark!" I look at Gale with a scared look on my face. Marjorie walks up to him and stands very closely to him.

"You know that I would never do that to you Gale, right? Remember when we were together? Remember how much... _fun _ we had together? Remember...?" She says in a seductive voice. Hand reaches down, to his private parts. I look at them both with a sad face.

"Marjorie stop it! I'm not in love with you anymore, and I never will! It's been like four years! Let it go Already!" He tells her as he slaps the blondes hand off his parts.

He walks away from Marjorie. Our eyes meet for a slip second, before he looks down at me. Crap, he must have noticed the blood.

"What happened to you?" He asks me.

I sigh. This is going to be a long explanation...

But instead of answering him, I kiss him gently on the cheek.

"I'll tell you later, I need to go home."


End file.
